LATINO BUSINESS BOOM! VALLEY SUCCESS STORIES MIRROR ENTREPRENEURIAL TREND.

Byline: Rachel Uranga Staff Writer

Tired of working for low wages and taking orders from others, print shop manager Gabriel Barajas, his brother and father borrowed on their Sylmar town house and opened a modest San Fernando furniture shop filled with wooden wares from their homeland of Mexico.

Four years later, the family has three stores and is talking about adding more.

The Barajas are an entrepreneurial success story at the leading edge of a national wave of Latino business expansion. The number of Hispanic-owned businesses grew 31 percent between 1997 and 2002, according to census figures released Tuesday, three times the national rate for other businesses. Los Angeles leads the country, with about one-in-10 of the nation's Hispanic-owned companies located here.

``I had a hunger wanting to succeed, knowing that in Mexico we could not have done this,'' said Gabriel Barajas, a 26-year-old Woodland Hills resident and co-owner of El Sol furniture stores, one in San Fernando and two in Canoga Park. ``In other countries you can't open up businesses like this.''

Nearly 1.6 million Latino-owned businesses pumped $222 billion into the U.S. economy in 2002, up 19 percent from 1997. Almost half of those businesses were owned by Mexican-born and Mexican-American residents.

``Right now salsa outsells ketchup, tortillas outstrip Wonder Bread. It was Latino-owned businesses that got that (trend) started. We can expect to see much more of that,'' said Michael Barrera, president of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Latino consumers spend $700 billion annually, with that number expected to reach $1 trillion by the end of the decade.

``It's the common theme that immigrants take jobs that others won't do. But that's not what these owners are doing. They are simply satisfying (market) demands,'' said Dan Blake, director of the San Fernando Valley Economic Research Center. ``These people are creating their own jobs in the Los Angeles economy, they are not just being employees of someone else. They are creating their own jobs and way in the economy.''

The bulk of businesses - 87 percent - was in mom and pop shops, run by one person or families with no payroll.

It's how Salvador Reynoso, the 56-year-old owner of Carniceria Corona began his market in Reseda a decade ago with his partner.

``We didn't have money to begin with. I would come in after working a construction job,'' he said from his market where ranchera music, a type of Mexican country music, is piped in. The dream was to put his children through college.

The market now boasts five employees and provides special cuts of meat and remittance services to the Latino and immigrant clientele.

``Every day we have more Latinos in Los Angeles. It's important that they have services like this so that if they want a certain cut of meat or watch certain television shows or have something like that, they have it,'' he said.

Latino-owned businesses showed a strong presence in repair and maintenance - about 16 percent - and construction - about 14 percent - while they had relatively low numbers in high-end fields such as educational and information services.

Though the foreign-born population was not singled out in the survey, Harry Pachon, director of the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute, said it is likely that the results reflect a large number of immigrants unable to make it in traditional labor markets.

``This is not surprising. Whenever you have ethnic enclaves, you find entrepreneurs that are willing to cater to them,'' he said.

By 2050, it's estimated that one out of every four workers will be Latino. But many steer toward their own businesses because they can't fit into the mainstream, said Gabriel Reyes, the Mexican-born owner of Reyes Entertainment, a Hollywood-based marketing and public relations company.

``We have an independent spirit because we come from countries where people are left to their own devices economically. We know we have to help ourself,'' he said. ``A lot of Latino businesses are mom and pop stores; they come here, they don't know anything about getting a corporate job or going to a head hunter. The easiest thing for a Hispanic to do is start their own business, figure out something to sell and sell it.''

Ten years ago, Reyes began knocking on Hollywood and Fortune 500 companies' doors trying to get them to pay attention to Latinos' market presence. Many shrugged it off, until recently. Now, Latino entrepreneurs are having the last laugh as they help shape the new cultural landscape, changing how people buy cars, eat chips and even think about money.

``Hispanic sensibilities and places are being worked into the mainstream. Our experiences and what we consume are multicultural.''

Rachel Uranga, [phone]

rachel.uranga(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) Gabriel Barajas, 26, right, shown with his father Luis, is co- owner of El Sol furniture stores with locations in San Fernando and Canoga Park. ``I had a hunger wanting to succeed, knowing that in Mexico we could not have done this,'' he said.

Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer

(2) Salvador Reynoso, 56, cutting meat at Carniceria Corona, began his small market in Reseda a decade ago with a partner.

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer

Box:

no caption (Minority-owned business statistic)

SOURCES: 1997 Survey of Minority-Owned Business Enterprises, 2002 Survey of Business Owners